Thursday, July 10, 2014

NBA Orlando Summer League. Kevin Jones stars on day five.

Kevin Jones controls the ball.

The most efficient player on a winning team Wednesday was power forward Kevin Jones. The former West Virginia standout scored 15 points (7-12 FG), grabbed a dozen rebounds, and had two steals in the Pacers blowout victory over Oklahoma City on day five of the NBA Summer League in Orlando, Florida. Jones played 22 minutes on his way to earning our Hoop Obsession MVP of the day honor.

Most efficient shooting guard on a winning team: Donald Sloan, Indiana. ...The tough guard who is now 26 years old (undrafted from Texas A&M) scored 19 points (6-10 FG, 4-5 3 pt. FG) and dished six assists in 24 minutes. Sloan ran the point Wednesday but had five turnovers, looking more like a TWO guard than a PG. Last regular season, Sloan had a better than two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio so he IS making strides at converting from being a scorer in college to running an NBA team.

Most efficient small forward on a winning team: Jerami Grant, Philadelphia. ...Grant scored a dozen points (4-5 FG, 2-3 3-pt. FG, 2-3 FT), with five rebounds, and two blocked shots in 23 minutes off the bench. The son of former NBA player, Harvey Grant, Jerami appears to be making progress on his perimeter shooting.

Seven more stars

Marquis Teague - Brooklyn. ...Teague played as a reserve Wednesday, scoring 12 points (5-9 FG, 2-2 FT), and dishing nine assists with zero turnovers in 21 minutes. In our opinion, the next step for Marquis Teague is to show more consistency from game to game. It seems he is often one extreme (good) or the other (bad).

Donte Greene - Brooklyn. ...Greene has been playing power forward in this Orlando Summer League but he has been displaying small forward skills (probably because that IS his position). Greene had 17 points (6-19 FG, 4-10 3-pt. FG), seven rebounds, four assists (zero turnovers), and three steals in 27 minutes. ...Food for thought. Greene looks recovered from his 2012 ankle injury that required surgery. Last summer he looked out of shape and it hurt his performance badly. Now moving like the Donte Greene who showed promise in the early stages of his NBA career, we think it would be wise for all NBA teams to give Donte another look.

Mitch McGary - Oklahoma City. ...McGary has been OKC's best player in Orlando (in our opinion). He came off the bench Wednesday and scored 15 points (5-7 FG, 5-7 FT) in 23 minutes.

Markel Brown - Brooklyn. ...The high flying shooting guard has shown us that he can also make plays for teammates. Wednesday he scored 17 points (5-9 FG, 1-2 3-pt. FG, 6-8 FT), had seven rebounds, and three assists in 26 minutes.

Brian Cook - Detroit. ...Cook did what he does. He makes three point shots. Wednesday, "Cookie" nailed four threes en route to 14 points, and six rebounds in 23 minutes. His Pistons lost to the summer Celtics 92-90.